Kansas No. 3 in Preseason USA TODAY Coaches’ Poll

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Like the preseason Associated Press poll released earlier this month, the Kansas men’s basketball team is ranked No. 3 in the preseason USA TODAY Coaches’ Poll released Oct. 24.

Michigan State received 30 first-place votes in the poll and is preseason No. 1, while Kentucky is No. 2. No. 3 Kansas and No. 4 Duke each received one first-place vote from the 32-member coaches’ panel. Louisville rounds out the top five.

This is the fifth-straight year the Jayhawks have opened the season in the top-five and KU is ranked in the preseason for the 28th time in time in the 31-year history of the poll. With the preseason ranking, Kansas has appeared in each of the last 210 coaches’ polls, which is the longest active streak in coaches’ poll history.

The No. 3 ranking marks the 10th time KU has been preseason No. 3 or higher in the coaches’ poll. Additionally, it is the 14th time in the Bill Self era the Jayhawks have been preseason seventh or higher, including each of the last eight seasons.

Kansas could potentially play eight games against teams ranked in the coaches’ preseason poll this season. Those include: No. 1 Michigan State (potential in Maui Invitational), No. 4 Duke, No. 10 Villanova, No. 12 Texas Tech (twice), No. 18 Baylor (twice), and No. 25 Tennessee.

In 2018-19 Kansas opened the year No. 1 in the preseason coaches’ poll and ended No. 16.

Kansas Jayhawks

2019-20 USA TODAY Coaches Poll (preseason)

Rank. Team – First Place Votes (points)

  1. Michigan State – 30 (792)
  2. Kentucky (734)
  3. KANSAS – 1 (687)
  4. Duke – 1 (683)
  5. Louisville (670)
  6. Florida (619)
  7. Gonzaga (544)
  8. Maryland (536)
  9. Virginia (532)
  10. Villanova (531)
  11. North Carolina (503)
  12. Texas Tech (417)
  13. Seton Hall (403)
  14. Oregon (344)
  15. Memphis (331)
  16. Ohio State (280)
  17. Arizona (229)
  18. Baylor (228)
  19. Utah State (218)
  20. St. Mary’s (163)
  21. Xavier (149)
  22. Purdue (123)
  23. Auburn (105)
  24. LSU (86)
  25. Tennessee (78)

Others receiving votes: VCU 76; Marquette 62; Washington 59; Florida State 47; Michigan 28; Colorado 28; Houston 17; Creighton 13; Davidson 11; Southern California 9; Providence 8; Mississippi State 7; Wisconsin 6; UCLA 6; Texas 6; Syracuse 6; Georgetown 6; Liberty 5; Dayton 5; Harvard 4; Oklahoma 3; Illinois 2; NC State 1.

The No. 3 Jayhawks will return home for their final exhibition of the season, as Kansas takes Pittsburg State on Thursday, Oct. 31 inside Allen Field Fieldhouse. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. with the game airing on Big 12 Now on ESPN+

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